At Manchester Digital, we regularly shine a light on our members to understand more about their roles and their work within Greater Manchester’s digital and technology community. This week, we’re speaking with Matt Wood, Managing Consultant at Fruition, who have recently expanded into the city, having built their tech recruitment expertise up in Leeds and London.
Fruition has built a strong reputation across Leeds and London — what’s driving your expansion into Manchester, and why now?
Manchester’s growth has been a major driver for us. The city has a thriving tech ecosystem, with a huge number of startups alongside established enterprises continuing to invest heavily in technology hubs. As a result, demand for high-quality tech talent is extremely strong.
We’ve also naturally grown a strong network in Manchester over time. Many of our candidates already work remotely from the city, and several of our existing clients have offices here, which has significantly expanded our candidate and client base locally.
Additionally, we already operate from an office in Manchester supporting our US operations, so having an established base here made expanding our presence a very natural next step. The city is booming, the tech community is incredibly welcoming, and we’re genuinely excited to be part of it.
You’re specialists in technology recruitment — can you tell us more about the types of roles and sectors you focus on, and where you’re seeing the strongest demand right now?
We recruit across the entire technology stack, from junior-level roles right through to executive and C-suite appointments. Our core areas of focus include Software Engineering, Data Engineering, Data Science, AI, Machine Learning, Cyber Security, and Project & Delivery functions.
Right now, we’re seeing particularly strong demand for AI and data-related roles, alongside cyber security and experienced software engineers.
We operate across all sectors, but more recently we’ve seen a spike in demand from fintech, health tech, retail, travel, and insurtech. We’re fortunate to work with a broad range of organisations, including Jet2, ASDA, TransUnion, Vanquis, Monzo and DoorDash, among many others.
Community has clearly played a big role in your growth in other regions. What does “building community” mean to you, and how are you planning to approach that in Manchester?
For us, building community is about genuinely giving something back. Sitting where we do in the market, we’re able to offer valuable insight into candidate motivations, salary trends, market rates, and competitor activity, and we’re always happy to share that knowledge where it helps.
We also have large and constantly growing networks, which puts us in a great position to bring people together. In Leeds, we’ve become well known for hosting events that deliver real value, and we want to replicate that in Manchester.
Our approach is always to lean on our network; bringing in expert speakers and panellists, and listening closely to what the community actually wants to hear about. The goal is to create events and conversations that are genuinely useful, not just another networking session.
From your perspective as tech recruitment specialists, what key hiring or talent trends are you seeing as we head into 2026?
I know AI is all people talk of at the minute but there is a reason for that - AI is no longer the future, it’s very much the present. Across Leeds, Manchester and London, we’re seeing unprecedented demand for AI talent, from hands-on engineers to strategic product and leadership roles.
Companies aren’t just looking to adopt AI; they’re racing to integrate it responsibly and at scale. That’s made competition for top talent fiercer than ever.
To stand out, organisations really need to think carefully about their employee value proposition. Why should a candidate join? What problems will they solve? What tech will they work with? What impact can they make, and where is the business heading?
For professionals looking to grow their careers in AI and emerging technologies, the opportunities are huge, but so is the need for the right skills and experience.
Manchester’s tech ecosystem is growing rapidly across fintech, ecommerce, gaming and scale-ups. What excites you most about the opportunity here?
These sectors are all hugely important to us, and we already work with organisations operating in these spaces, including Flutter, Monzo and ASDA.
What excites us most is the pace of growth and innovation. Not only do we get to work with some incredible brands, but we also get early insight into what’s happening in the market and play an active role in helping businesses deliver their strategies by finding the talent they need. Being part of that journey is incredibly rewarding.
What impact are you hoping to make as part of the Manchester Digital community -and how can members get the most out of working with Fruition?
We want to be truly embedded in the community; attending events, building relationships, and most importantly, listening. Understanding the challenges businesses are facing, where technology is heading, and how we can provide meaningful solutions is key for us.
We offer a wide range of services, all bespoke to each client. That includes permanent and contract recruitment, executive search, project delivery, and partnership-based recruitment models, so there’s an option to support businesses at every stage of growth.
For candidates, we have specialist consultants working within each vertical. They genuinely understand their niche, speak the technical language, and are focused on helping people find their next challenge and progress their careers within the tech industry.
We’re really looking forward to contributing to (and learning from!!) the Manchester Digital community.
Thank you Matt!
To find out more about Fruition, click here.
